LETTER: NJ shouldn’t bow to fed demands on immigration

Julio Cortez, APSen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., left, and Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, join a rally to support Catalino Guerrero, center, before his deportation hearing Friday. Guerrero has had a clean record since arriving in the USA in 1991. Catalino Guerrero, center left, stands with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, left, and Newark Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin, center right, during a rally outside of the Peter Rodino Federal Building before attending an immigration hearing, Friday, March 10, 2017, in Newark, N.J. Guerrero, who arrived in the U.S. illegally in 1991, is facing deportation. Organizers claim he is an upstanding citizen and should not be deported. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) ORG XMIT: NJJC101(Photo: Julio Cortez / AP)

“I’m not scared any more than I was yesterday,” proclaimed Julia the day after Donald Trump was elected. All that has changed now.

Julia is a bold and fearless advocate for herself and her children. I have always admired her strength. She is the mother of one of my immigration clients at the American Friends Service Committee’s Immigrant Rights Program. Yet, when I met with her recently, Julia was visibly shaken by recent events and wanted to protect her children in case she was detained and deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In her family, she is the only one who is undocumented.

Trump rules by fear and intimidation, not facts or the law.

Through an executive order, Trump is trying to strong-arm local police to carry out the work of federal immigration agents. Trump threatens to withhold federal funding from so called “sanctuary cities,” a term left up to the Department of Homeland Security to define. But, in this context, it signifies local governments who do not honor requests made by ICE, unless they abide by the Fourth Amendment. It is important to recognize, however, that municipalities that choose not to collaborate with federal immigration enforcement efforts are on solid legal footing.

The Fourth Amendment requires that an arrest be based upon a judicial warrant or probable cause of a crime. ICE frequently utilizes documents that are not judicial warrants or based upon probable cause. Federal courts have ruled that local police are not required to respond to any warrantless requests. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that local law enforcement does not have independent authority to make an arrest for civil immigration violations. Thus, municipalities that choose not to carry out the work of federal immigration agents uphold the law, not break it.

Recently there were reports that local police collaborated with ICE in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Julia was due to appear in court later in the week to testify against her spouse for domestic violence charges. Because of the reports, Julia feared that if she went to court, she would never return home. She brought money to me to ensure her eldest child with asylum was able to submit his application for lawful permanent residence. She also wanted me to assist in preparing a Power of Attorney to ensure each of her three young U.S. citizen children would be cared for in her absence.

New Jersey has much to risk if it enforces immigration law.

Police chiefs around the country recognize that community safety is undermined if local police officers are involved in enforcing immigration law. Victims and witnesses fear speaking to the police. U.S. citizens fear making reports or cooperating out of fear that friends or loved ones may be deported. Such collaboration has led to racial profiling, unconstitutional arrests and detention, and a decline in community trust. In addition, enforcing civil immigration law is time-consuming, expensive, and distracts from fighting crime.

Local governments should not be intimidated by Trump’s threats to withdraw federal funding. Under the Tenth Amendment, the federal government cannot force states to participate in federal programs. U.S. Supreme Court precedent is clear that the federal government also may not coerce state action through cuts to federal funding. Any conditions on federal funding must be clear, given in advance, and reasonably related to the federal program. Thus, local jurisdictions can refuse to participate in enforcing immigration law with the force of the constitution supporting them.

The law and facts are clear. New Jersey municipalities must pass Fair and Welcoming Police Directives, Executive Orders, and Resolutions, and it is the right thing to do for all of our residents now. For the safety and well-being of Julia and everyone in our communities, municipalities must make it official and perfectly clear to all that they will not enforce federal immigration law.